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Alvin Leung has been in the SPC family since 2010. He is hard of hearing, and according to Alvin, would hear nothing but serenity without his audiphone. Growing up, he has had countless training sessions for pronunciation and lip-reading. “We usually learn using different games and I learnt to read lips through this kind of training, by that I mean I learnt it through experience, not by sitting in a dreadful classroom,” he said. These repeated drills have proven instrumental in Alvin’s strong HKDSE results, and in his earning a place at the University of Hong Kong.
“The College Council really supported me wholeheartedly and I am so grateful for their understanding and assistance,” Alvin said. After graduating from SPCPS, he struggled with hearing the teachers’ commands and their teaching content, but he was too shy to express his need. In spite of this reticence, his teachers eventually noticed his need and requested that the school purchase an FM machine – a hearing aid which allows Alvin to hear every word from his teachers clearly.
When the pandemic struck, it caused problems for everyone, and even more so for the hard of hearing. Due to government regulations requiring everyone to wear face masks, lip reading became almost impossible. To assist him at school, our caring Council bought a number of transparent masks for the teachers, allowing Alvin to continue to read the lips of the teachers. Alvin is immensely grateful for the College's support, and to Ms. K.Y. Kwong, our Special Educational Need (SEN) coordinator, in particular.
Being a student with a hearing impairment in Hong Kong is not easy. It is the responsibility of the community to understand and care for them — to minimise the hurdles that they face.
Being a student with a hearing impairment in Hong Kong is not easy. It is the responsibility of the community to understand and care for them — to minimise the hurdles that they face.
“I think that it is important for people to truly understand and know how they can help,” said Alvin. He hopes that people can understand the fact that with everyone wearing face masks, hearing impaired people rely on clear pronunciation . Rather than being confused or annoyed by the need to repeat ourselves when communicating with the hearing impaired, we need to show them respect and acknowledge their needs without being overly sympathetic.
“I think that it is important for people to truly understand and know how they can help,” said Alvin. He hopes that people can understand the fact that with everyone wearing face masks, hearing impaired people rely on clear pronunciation. Rather than being confused or annoyed by the need to repeat ourselves when communicating with the hearing impaired, we need to show them respect and acknowledge their needs without being overly sympathetic.
“The government actually provided us with a lot of help,” Alvin says. For instance, Suen Mei Speech & Hearing Centre, the NGO that taught Alvin lip-reading and other “survival skills” receives annual subsidies from the government, and travel allowance for the disabled. In spite of the fact that the government has provided help here and there, it is not necessarily tailored to suit each individual’s needs. Alvin shared with us that his case is actually quite severe, and that even though his audiphone is replaced annually, it is not all that useful to him. Alvin still thanks the government for its dedication, but suggests that they could learn more about each individual's situation so as to provide more assistance to those who need it.
Public exams are stressful, so Alvin participated in a wide variety of extracurricular activities to find respite from his hectic schedule. Participating in teams, including the Bowling and Publicity Teams, he made a lot of friends throughout the secondary school journey. He also enjoys doing sports, to be more specific, hitting the gym. Thus, he established the Fitness Club in SPC, to look for gym enthusiasts like him and to support one another. “Preparing for DSE is hard, but it is way easier with your buddies," he stated. Like so many of us at SPC, his friends are understanding and supportive, and have his back during the hard times.
“Flaws are awesome, perfection is boring,” Tyra Banks once said, and it is true. Everyone is special in their own way. Hongkongers, however, tend to label such characteristics as straight-up good or bad. To make Hong Kong more inclusive, we have to notice and understand the needs of different people, be it the disabled or just a random person on the street. More importantly, we ought to respect everyone equally. If we do, we can build a better Hong Kong and make the already difficult life of the disabled a little easier.
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